Maggie

It's been awhile since I wrote all the lovely things about these girls on their very own days every other month, and I'll try to get back in the habit of highlighting some of their "right nows" as we maneuver through the days and months the best we know how. This is my time capsule for me to share with my girls when they're grown... let's not think too hard about when they're grown though, because they're such dear littles and I am not wishing this away anytime soon.

Maggie is a great napper and terrible at going to bed at night. She would probably sleep until dinnertime every day if I didn't wake her. It's the opposite at night: she wants to chatter in her bed and sing "God is bigger than the boogyman" and "Jesus loves me" and "Little Einsteins" until 10pm every night. She's decided she wants to wear dresses every day, just like her big sister... but a couple of her tanks that are loose-fitting are considered dresses in her world. Her "favorite dress" changes daily so she can keep me guessing. She laughs hysterically if anyone in the room is laughing. She also has a scowl that is not to be messed with... she's conquered the eyebrow furrow, concerned eyes, and pout lip like none I've ever seen. She rarely yells, but is not afraid to repeat herself at loud volumes until she's heard... like a record skipping "May I please have some water," breath, "may I please have some water..." "may I please..." etc. 

She wants everything for her birthday. Her birthday is in August, but if she wants a purple scooter, she will say "mommy I'm getting a purple scooter for my birthday." Same with purple everything else. Her birthday wish list is three pages long by now and we have -mmmm- about four months to go. Cha- ching! {No, we're not actually getting anything yet}.

I love our little blonde free-spirited pixie with a shining smile. I love her little heart, her little shenanigans, her exuberance, hugs, and her chatter. They all add up to one beautiful little human. I'm so thankful I get to see her and love her and be her doting mama. 

xoxo

Chalk, Sketches & Laughter

All photos by Pictilio.

We sketch the sidewalks endlessly. It's the easiest thing to bring chalk everywhere and entertain ourselves no matter where we walk. Drawing and sketching and sidewalk chalking are some of the things I get a little carried away with. I use just as many sketch papers and as much chalk as my children. Sophie is starting to really be a wonderful little artist, which makes me seriously proud. The other day, her pink balloon floated into the sky, and she got terribly sad about it... our therapy was writing a book showing all the different ways that the balloon may have gone. It was brilliant and colorful and it made me love five years old all over again. 

Maggie, meanwhile, treats me like her personal coloring book creator. "Mommy will you please make a lion for me?" and I do... "Mommy can you make a baby lion for me?" again "Mommy can you please make a girl lion with a dress?... She needs a bow on her heeaaaad!" And I do it because I kind of love being an amazing artist in the eyes of my two-year-old. She colors it in... I feel like a celebrity sketch artist... we're all happy. I mean, 30 minutes in when I'm still getting requests as I'm attempting to make lunch or something... not quite as charming, but you know. Mostly it's entirely adorable. 

I love the way these two laugh. The way they give grace to one another and to me, and kiss cheeks and make up and have a good laugh together in the course of five minutes. Laughter is a beautiful part of childhood, and I'm hoping they keep it flowing through their entire lives. Don't we all want to spend time with people who make us laugh and who laugh with us? Kids master the art of laughter so nicely.

I'd write more, but I'm feeling accomplished for making it through Wednesday, and I want to reward Brian & myself with some french pressed decaf and chillin' on the couch. Living it up around here, let me tell ya. 

Pics are all Pictilio.

Snag the elephant clips in my shop.

The scarf {c/o Peppercorn Kids} is available at Wunway. 

Sometimes I wish I was a Food Blogger...

Food doesn't move. It stays still and looks pretty unless {tiny} people come and trip over it. Some days I would like to be a food blogger whose subjects are immobile and are just fine with switching out this for that. Kids have so many opinions, you know? Switch out a skirt for jeans on a normal morning and the world falls down. Never mind that it's 50 degrees outside and it's for their own good. Sometimes I like the idea of taking photographs or having my friends from Pictilio take photographs of subjects that sit still, and who don't tear up when I tell them no tutus today.

I don't love cooking or making food though {cooking is about survival, you know}, so it would never work. I would post once per month on the day that everything I made tasted just right and had all the proper ingredients for a beautiful picture. 

The above picture was a moment that I got to style a food post for my friends with this smoothie recipe they created that was total deliciousness. Who knew that dates could taste good? Not me, certainly. Peanut butter basically makes everything just right in the world, so in the right context, dates are delicious. The smoothie is delicious. Try it.

In other news, Brian and I went to wine country last weekend to celebrate a friend turning 32. Thirty-two is a big number in some cultures, you know. I'm kidding... this was just an excuse for all of us to get out of town and away from real life for a bit and visit a castle and enjoy the beauty of the great outdoors.

Side note: did you know that when I was a child, I loved getting covered in mud and touching bugs and such? Camping was my cup of tea and I wondered why my parents didn't think it was amazing. Now, the closest I come to nature is getting to the country and staying indoors with a real bed and shower. I think when you spend a lot of your days being a total mess of fingerprints on jeans and fighting the battle of sandy-everything from parks and such, it's a welcome thing to get away and NOT be dirty for a change. 

The weekend was beautiful and sunny and just what we needed. There's a reason people take spring breaks. Refreshers are such sweet luxury for this time of year. Took me a full day to get out of chill-mode when I got home, and my poor home is wrought with laundry pileups, but it was thoroughly enjoyable, and I will recommend St. Helena and Castello di Amorosa to any and everyone. ps. This is not sponsored- because in blogland I need to clarify that sort of thing. ;)

xo.

Loving & Linking

Photo via A House in the Hills

YUM.

The most entertaining post of the week, in my opinion.

Bravo. I wholeheartedly agree with this.

Possibly my favorite egg idea of all.

Amazing DIY.

I wish they didn't generalize Americans and clump us all in one unhealthy bunch, but that being said, these are good suggestions for creating healthier eating habits with kids. We strive to follow most of these concepts in our home too.

We love cheese. Want everything in this post.

I pinned this smoothie because I tasted it when they made it in real life. Legitimately delicious.

I recently received a BEAUTIFUL scarf from Yana Kapeli, and it is soft perfection. 

Pretty place to visit next time I'm in NYC.

Beautiful, airy room.

Sprout- one of the best kids' stores in the city- opened a new location in Mill Valley for all of you north bay residents... they're also hosting an event at their city store on April 23 with Arlene Blum and door prizes, so be sure to sign up for that asap!

Happy, happy weekend!

Ordinary Becoming Extraordinary

Sometimes we hear about how a person did this or that and changed lives forever for the better in doing so. Generally, we say "wow, good for them" or "wow, look at all that one {extraordinary} individual managed to do."

Rarely do we say, "hmm, how can WE change someone's life today?"

Some friends and I received a book for children called Ordinary Mary's Extraordinary Deed. We were challenged to read the book, and be inspired to do something simple with our children to show that a tiny act of kindness can go incredibly far... like perhaps to every person in the world, as the small girl named Mary did in the story.

What struck me most about this is how little I consider doing these tiny deeds. I just go about managing life like normal, and don't stop to think of neighbors or people we pass daily. 

I was thinking all month of tiny gestures to make for others that my girls would enjoy. What I noticed is that it is SIMPLE to do something not only as a one-time thing, but regularly. We've decided that we will do one ordinary act of kindness every week through this year. We want it to become a lifestyle, rather than a single act.

This week, we made ordinary cupcakes. We would never have finished the entire batch anyway, and we have a lot of construction going on in our neighborhood. We took a platter full of cupcakes to the construction site, and the girls happily shared that they made them for the workers last night. The whole "make someone smile" concept is just NOT as hard as it seems. The workers were charmed and delighted, as were my kiddos {who giggled as they watched them eat out our window- ha!}.

See how some friends are showing kindness to get more ideas:

According To Nina | The Moore Family | Courtney from The Chirping Moms | I Love You More Than Carrots | Life in the Green House | Julie from The Chirping Moms | Cheerios And Lattes | Kathryn from True Aim | Kristin, a school teacher

We'd love to hear your ideas too! If you'd like to order the book, do so here.

xoxo

What To Wear

I was asked to give some tips to a friend on creating a great wardrobe. It was a surprising request, because I'm always talking about kids' clothing, but BECAUSE I'm always talking about kids' wardrobes, I thought it would be a really fun change-of-pace to post my own style tips. ;) If your eyes are glazing over already, just know we'll be back to the regularly scheduled program again tomorrow. ha!

Here's the fact: I don't have the most creative wardrobe ever. Here's a look at pieces from {or similar to} my every day uniform:

1. Black Booties 2. Railroad Stripe Skirt 3. Hooray Bag 

4. White Tee 5. Folkstitch Jacket 6. Gladiator Brown Sandals 

7. Blue Skinny Jeans 8. Gold Necklace 9. Black Tank 

10. Brown Hat 11. Sunglasses 12. White Jeans

Black, white, grey, and denim rule my drawers. 

That said, I do love to get dressed. I love working with what is in my closet. To me, money does not buy style, so it's not necessary to spend in excess. My "investment pieces" are well-made tees that fall exactly as they should and get worn a million times because of their comfort, quality, and versatility. I love well-made tried & true pieces that get worn until they have holes. My goal is never to have the MOST clothing... my goal is to wear every piece I own, so I'm not storing unnecessary pieces. I purge the closet constantly. Here's what I'm keeping in the rotation these days:

• TOPS: For the every day, I switch between slouchy tees and slouchy tanks, and button down plaid. I do the half tuck these days to keep it really casual. If I want to spruce things up, or if I'm going somewhere fun in the evening, I'll switch to a blouse type of shirt, or I'll just change my jeans to a skirt and that's fancy enough.
• BOTTOM: Skinny jeans or a casual skirt generally... geez, am I original or what? 
• SHOES: I wear booties year-'round. I buy one great pair of sandals every spring. I wear chucks, Minnetonka flats, and have one fabulous and neutral strappy heel {similar} that takes care of all the fancy events. My shoe closet is not extensive, but I feel I have the right shoe for any occasion. 
• ACCESSORIES: Earrings every day. Big and gold are my staples, but I switch them out for basic gold triangle studs when I wear my long necklaces. I either go big on the earrings or necklaces, never both. ;) It's the easiest thing to add jewelry to an outfit, and it makes me feel more "put together" and ready for the day when I do. Win-win! 
• JACKETS: I'm in love with my bomber jacket {similar here} and my faux leather jacket {similar here}. Honorable mentions not yet in my wardrobe, (but wish-listing because I heart jackets so much) here and here.

There you have it! Your annual "Kate's style" report. 

Ps. I'm trying not to hoard these "hooray" bags. They're my current favorite piece in my whole shop... 

xoxo.